KICHARI

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2025

Thunder Bay, Ontario

From my new book, The Walking Monk – Poems .2:

KICHARI

Sounds like the name of an Indigenous girl

Perhaps appropriate as a precious pearl

It's not a mammal, bird, rock, or tree

You're getting close if you say "herbal tea"

It's something satisfying to the appetite

Yummy to the tummy to the very last bite

It's a food preparation – kichari

The problem is, between you and me

It suffers from a bad reputation

A poor man's food is its qualification

When you go to an eastern monastery

Whether April, June, or January

The monks will just devour it up

At breakfast, lunch, or for sup

If absent you can get so suspicious

Because it's so darn damn delicious

Traditional recipes will reveal it all

Rice, veggies, something called dahl

Spice, greens, ginger, turmeric too

Kichari is king, a healthy eastern stew

Let's get that word right – kichari

Should go beyond a monk's monopoly

It has appeal at any time of day

Let the rich get sick on their special entreé

And eventually become a kichari fan

The miracle meal that shapes Superman

– By Bhaktimarga Swami

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU!

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